Steve Madden Is Still Searching for the Perfect Shoe

Steve Madden is obsessed with shoes which is a good thing considering he is the shoe king of New York. He’s also a showman in the great tradition of NYC’s Florenz Ziegfeld and Hollywood’s David O. Selznick perhaps that’s why you’ll find a series of videos called The Shoe Shrink on his website. Madden is great at putting out cute, hip, trendy footwear but he also sees the big picture of brand identity and entertainment. We’ve been fans, friends and collaborators for years and we were excited to catch up with him at his huge factory/office/headquarters in Queens.

Read our full conversation below.

Steve Madden: Do you guys know who David O. Selznick was?

Staff: No.

SM: Really? I remember reading about “Gone with The Wind ” and thinking the director was an afterthought because the book was so powerful, you know?

Of course.

It was Selznick. He was the PRODUCER of the film. He produced it. He gave birth to it! He took this book and hired the actors. He hired directors. He fired them. He kept firing the directors! He made this film happen. It was the greatest film ever made. Up until like, the fucking Godfather. You know? It was amazing. I remember going when I was a little boy to see it with my parents.

It’s long. It’s like three movies in one.

I remember that was the first time there was a movie with an intermission. I freaked out. They don’t have that anymore! You know what I’m talking about—

I Do. I have been to a few—

In Times Square! With my parents!

Staff: Oh, that’s cool.

It was amazing—and I said “That’s who I am. That’s what I want to do.” I didn’t know it would be shoes. Not quite the writer. Not quite the director. Not the actor, but the guy that’s running it. It’s very hard to explain that to people. So, I would go around to see various people looking for money (to start my shoe business.) I couldn’t explain it. I knew that I had something that I could bring here and make something big. Nobody funded me! Nobody would give me money! They almost did: Kenneth Cole, this guy New York Transit, another Israeli guy, and the guys from Tulips—that was a funky company in California, but they couldn’t get there.

Was this before or after you started in the trunk of your car?

Oh, this is before the trunk.

So, you’re a showman basically. Like Ziegfeld.

Yes! Like Ziegfeld. I’ve been doing it and I’m still doing it. It’s like making a movie, but of course, when you get older you have less energy.

No shit.

Even the great directors pretty much fizzle out young if you think about it. There’s very few that—

Well, Billy Wilder had a great long career although he did fizzle out a little bit at the end.

All of those guys that were great in the 70’s, you know? The “New Hollywood” guys. Not Spielberg, not Scorsese, but the rest of them. Like the guy that made “The Exorcist.”

William Friedkin. Do you know Peter Bogdanovich? He made like 3 of the most amazing movies ever.

He was young.

“Last Picture Show,” “What’s Up, Doc?” And “Paper Moon.” His wife, Polly Platt, was sort of the brains behind the operation. I’m obsessed with her. He started fucking Cybill Shephard and after a while Polly quit working with him.

Oh, right!

Polly Platt actually casted Cybill Shephard in the movie. She saw her on the cover of Glamour Magazine and said “This is the girl who we should get to play Jacy“

Wow!

She did the hair. She scouted the locations. She did everything.

So you think she was—

It was all her. 100%

Oh God!

Later she worked for James L. Brooks. She actually got nominated for an Oscar for doing the scenic design for “Terms of Endearment.”

Brooks was amazing.

She also discovered Wes Anderson, Cameron Crowe, she gave them their first breaks—

*To staff** Did you ever see “The Last Picture Show?”

Staff: I’ve seen The Last Picture Show but no—

SM: It was one of—

It’s amazing.

Jeff Bridges first, ya know? “The Big Lebowski,” one of his big things with Cybil Shephard. It was amazing.

The guy who wrote “The Last Picture Show” also wrote “Terms of Endearment” ironically. Larry McMurtry he was kind of in love with Polly Platt. She was an alcoholic and problematic too I have to say. There’s a podcast— I can’t believe I’m a douchebag who is recommending podcasts but, it’s called “You Must Remember This.”

Oh God I’ve got to listen to it—That’s it!

Staff: Me too! I have to also.

You know cause I’m—you know what I’m listening to?

What?

There’s a podcast about Dominick Dunne

I would love to listen to that.

Yeah. It’s called Done & Dunne.

I love it. Let me write down “Done & Dunne”

“Done & Dunne”

Oh my God. We’re podcast people! Well, do you know what else I love? Have you ever listened to Anderson Cooper’s podcast about death?

Yeah!

Fabulous. When he had Amy & David Sedaris, that was the best thing ever in history. Let’s flashback to the beginning, you were talking about how you were pitching people. Tell me how.

I’d pitch them but I couldn’t explain it. It was like the whole David Selznick thing from “Gone With the Wind.” I could not —I tried and I could not get them to— they didn’t understand. They knew there was something there but they just didn’t—

How did you come up with the idea to do shoes?

I worked in a shoe store in High School. Then I went to work at a shoe company. I was 22. I worked pretty much the whole 80’s in the shoe company and learned the business and then at the end of the 80’s I went out on my own. It was at that—88,89,90. That’s when I was looking for funding and it didn’t happen. Then I just did it. I just took whatever I had and just went into business.

Was it all women’s shoes at this time?

All women’s.

What makes an amazing woman’s shoe? What are the ingredients needed for it to be a fabulous shoe?

Wow. For many reasons, we just cannot understand or codify. It’s like, what makes a hit song? It’s the same thing. We do—

Do they have to be comfortable? Do they have to be sexy?

Some shoes are sexy. Some shoes are not sexy.

Do they have to be accessible in price?

Well, everything is important, but, we’re in the style business. We’re in the hip business. We have to

be trendy and we have to keep trying to come out with the trendiest sort of shoes.

Oh, I think you succeed. When I think of Steve Madden, I think of very now, current, hip, cool.

We’ve been doing it a long time. The culture of the company is; we’re business people and we’re creative people. We’re very focused on hits.

You’re from Queens originally?

I’m really from a town called Far Rockaway which is in Queens. I was born in Rockaway Beach Hospital. Then I’ll have a cousin that will call me up and yell at me and say “You were not born in Rockaway!” You know, that kind of thing. My mother, we were a very close family. As many families were 60 years ago. Everybody lived in one place. We were very much a Far Rockaway sort of family. I consider that home.

Why is your business in Queens now? Is it because you love Queens? Is it a random coincidence?

It was just random. In the garage of this building, I started with a shoe factory. That’s why I’m here. Then we took over more and we became an importer and so the rest is history.

How did you sell shoes out of the trunk of your car? Did you park on the corner and sell them to strangers?

No. I’d drive around and look for stores. There must have been 50 shoe stores in Manhattan. So, you could just keep selling shoes.

When did you start—

There are no shoe stores now. Do you realize that? The greatest shoe store just closed. Harry’s on the Upper West Side. The greatest store ever. They sold the most amazing shoes. Closed. It’s the craziest fucking thing.

Why do you think?

Internet.

Yeah.

People can get on their phone and buy their shoes. It’s just the way it is.

When did you go from selling out of the trunk of your car to actually having your own Steve Madden boutique?

I opened up a store about 2 and a half years after I started. I opened up on Broadway. I feel like it was May of 1993. I don’t know how I did it without any of the things I have now. Looking back on it is like wow. How the fuck did I do that? You know? It’s like—like I heard an interview with Bob Dylan and it was like “Could you write those songs again?” He said “I don’t know how the fuck I did that!” You know? I don’t know where they came from. They were so great his songs.

Did you ever have a moment that was like “Wow. I’ve really made it now.”

There’s been a few moments. They happen. I guess the store was a moment for me, the first store. Hearing from people that my shoe, it was an elastic shoe, was the biggest shoe in the US. It’s called “The Slinky.” That was pretty good.

I’d say. How long do you keep a shoe in the rotation?

We’re still making “The Slinky.” Yeah, 30 years later.

That’s amazing.

I can’t remember if it was ‘95 or ‘96. The internet keeps them longer. You know, dot com? I don’t even use the right expression, do I?

Makes sense to me. What percentage of your business would you say is online versus in person?

In retail 2 thirds is on the internet. We also have a lot of stores. It’s tremendous. Some days we do a million dollars a day. It’s mind boggling.

That’s fabulous. Are you a $2 billion company?

I think we’re close to 3 now. We just bought a big company.

Which company did you buy?

We bought a company called Kurt Geiger.

Oh, interesting.

It’s different when you're younger and you’re doing it but at the end of the day, it’s all the same shit. You go to bed just like everybody else you put your pants on one leg at a time. You look in the mirror you see a zit. I don’t have delusions of grandeur. I mean, maybe I do sometimes, but mostly I don’t. I wish I did more, frankly. I actually think—is it a gift to be able to think that way? I’m just saying, yeah. I’m still at it. That’s really it. I’m still at it and I do recognize that I have wealth now. Or less, since this idiot came into power. We’ll be ok. I’m not going to be homeless. When I say homeless I should really clarify what that means. Obviously not homeless but there was a long time where I wasn’t paying my rent. Believe me I was one of those guys that used to wait.

I still haven’t paid last month’s rent.

In the old days, when I was away for 3 months to go buy and then they put a notice on your door. Then a months later they say we’re gonna evict you. I was never a good bill payer.

Same.

Yeah.

We have so much in common. We love Tuesday Weld. We’re bad bill players. Did you in the end feel like going to prison was a good experience or bad experience? You’re very forthcoming and open about talking about it.

It was absolutely horrible and painful. Of course, it doesn’t matter what I say because I went to prison and I can’t undo it but I’m grateful for everything that I’ve done in my life and I’m grateful for where I am today and some of that is a result of being at the bottom. In the pit, in the darkness. I can’t speak for other people but there’s something about

being in that moment of complete darkness in the pit and coming through it. There’s something about

that. I’m not even sure how to explain it. Whether it builds character. Whatever the word is I’m thinking of. I got to see highs and lows. The perspective I’ve gained is unbelievable.

Well, we don’t learn anything from success. I mean, from that kind of experience, like you just said, you learn that your’e a survivor and you can get through anything. After you’ve lived through that, it’s suddenly like, “Oh wait, they’re out of this color leather for the sandals.” That’s not such a crisis.

Or they ran out of Diet Pepsi. That kind of thing.

Absolutely, I’m grateful for the bad things that have happened to me. Although, I haven’t been to prison, but I feel like I’ve learned. It made me appreciate life in a way that I didn’t otherwise.

Sure!

So then you come out of the big house and in that same year—

The hoosegow.

The hoosegow. Footwear News names Steve Madden the company of the year.

Is that right? I don’t remember. Was it that close?

It was either the same year or very shortly after. Within the year.

We came out with so much energy.

Yeah, how do you explain that?

It was 20 years ago!

That’s so crazy.

20 years ago—actually, right around now.

Well, there you go. Happy Anniversary. How important is it for celebrities to wear your shoes, or do you not care?

Oh, it’s a gas when anybody wears my shoes! It’s great. I love it. You know. The celebrity of today is a different thing. It’s the TikToker.

Are you on TikTok?

Sure, yeah. Not myself, but I watch everything. Do you like TikTok?

I do—it’s a little young for me, and a little frantic for me. I do go on it though. I used to have an account. I had an intern who made me do a TikTok everyday. Like about my clothes or—

How was it?

Grueling, exhausting, and not rewarding. So, what are your hopes and dreams for the future? What is your inner David O. Selznick working on? Is it ad campaigns? Is it—

Oh God! I’m so over my head!

You are?

Yeah! You know, I work with really great people.

You do.

I do, and, you know, it’s different now. I have great people I work with and the social media is so important. it’s tough for me, but, there’s people that seem to have a knack for this.

They do, I know.

We had a girl wear one of our shoes, this influencer. The shoe is doing great. I can’t keep it in stock.

How many different shoes a season?

Over 100.

100 new ones? Wow, that’s amazing.

Yeah, we do so many. We have retail, wholesale, internet.

What do you personally look for in a shoe? Do you wear the same shoes every day?

You know, I do pretty much wear the same shoes everyday. I have loafers from Steve Madden that are great. I have a few of these which are fine for me. I have a pair of boots that I can’t get rid of. I can’t find a replacement for them. It’s been 15 years and they have holes in them. It’s an engineer boot.

Are they Steve Madden?

No.

Is there something that the Selznick in you is still dying to do?

You know, I always just want to make better shoes. That’s it. That’s really all I want from business. Is to have a season of perfect shoes. That to me is heaven. That would be heaven.

Have you ever had a season of perfect shoes?

I’ve come close, but it’s hard. It’s really hard.

Photography courtesy of Steve Madden